MetroPCS Communications Inc (NYSE:PCS) investors should be aware of a decrease in hedge fund interest in recent months.
In today’s marketplace, there are plenty of gauges market participants can use to track the equity markets. A duo of the best are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite fund managers can outclass the market by a solid amount (see just how much).
Equally as integral, positive insider trading sentiment is a second way to parse down the investments you’re interested in. Just as you’d expect, there are plenty of incentives for a bullish insider to cut shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would behave bullishly. Various academic studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this tactic if shareholders know what to do (learn more here).
Keeping this in mind, let’s take a peek at the key action surrounding MetroPCS Communications Inc (NYSE:PCS).
How have hedgies been trading MetroPCS Communications Inc (NYSE:PCS)?
Heading into Q2, a total of 46 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 0% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes considerably.
According to our comprehensive database, Paulson & Co, managed by John Paulson, holds the biggest position in MetroPCS Communications Inc (NYSE:PCS). Paulson & Co has a $395.7 million position in the stock, comprising 2.2% of its 13F portfolio. On Paulson & Co’s heels is Michael Novogratz of Fortress Investment Group, with a $184.2 million position; 3.2% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Remaining peers that hold long positions include Mark Rachesky’s MHR Fund Management, Jamie Zimmerman’s Litespeed Management and Rob Citrone’s Discovery Capital Management.
Due to the fact that MetroPCS Communications Inc (NYSE:PCS) has experienced declining sentiment from hedge fund managers, it’s easy to see that there were a few money managers that slashed their entire stakes in Q1. At the top of the heap, Paul Tudor Jones’s Tudor Investment Corp dumped the biggest position of the 450+ funds we key on, totaling close to $24.7 million in stock., and Paul Singer of Elliott Management was right behind this move, as the fund sold off about $15.2 million worth. These moves are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).
What have insiders been doing with MetroPCS Communications Inc (NYSE:PCS)?
Insider buying is at its handiest when the company in question has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest six-month time frame, MetroPCS Communications Inc (NYSE:PCS) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and 7 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to MetroPCS Communications Inc (NYSE:PCS). These stocks are InterDigital, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDCC), Telephone & Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE:TDS), United States Cellular Corporation (NYSE:USM), Clearwire Corporation (NASDAQ:CLWR), and Portugal Telecom, SGPS (ADR) (NYSE:PT). All of these stocks are in the wireless communications industry and their market caps are similar to PCS’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| InterDigital, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDCC) | 16 | 0 | 4 |
| Telephone & Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE:TDS) | 19 | 0 | 2 |
| United States Cellular Corporation (NYSE:USM) | 6 | 0 | 2 |
| Clearwire Corporation (NASDAQ:CLWR) | 28 | 1 | 7 |
| Portugal Telecom, SGPS (ADR) (NYSE:PT) | 6 | 0 | 0 |
With the results shown by Insider Monkey’s research, everyday investors should always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and MetroPCS Communications Inc (NYSE:PCS) is no exception.
